Welcome to The City of DoraThe City of Dora is an old city with new ideas. The town has a lot to offer business, industry and residents. Dora has access to Corridor X which is the main Interstate between Birmingham, Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee making it ideal for light industry, trucking, and retail. Low taxes, a friendly government and room to expand makes ideal for business. Residents will love Horse Creek Golf, which is a first-class golf course owned and managed by the City of Dora. The first Horse Creek Jubilee Festival is planned for the spring of 2014, and will offer arts, crafts, music, and fun for the entire family. The history of Dora is interesting.
The coal that was mined from the hills and hollows around Dora, helped build America during the 1800 and 1900s.

City installs new Welcome Sign on Sharon Blvd. near Midway Plaza

Former school named to state historic registerby Rachel Davis

The Wyatt School, owned by the Alabama Mining Museum, has been listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. Daily Mountain Eagle - Rachel Davis The Wyatt School, owned by the Alabama Mining Museum, has been listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

Daily Mountain Eagle - Rachel Davis
DORA — The Wyatt School, located at the Alabama Mining Museum, has been declared a historic landmark by the Alabama Historical Commission and will be listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. The school, according to the Commission, is part of a series of school houses called the Rosenwald School Buildings.

These schools were built from 1912 to 1932 to educate black children, particularly those in poor, rural areas. The program was begun and maintained through money donated by Julius Rosenwald, the president of the Sears, Roebuck and Company. He, along with Booker T. Washington, oversaw the program through Tuskegee Institute. Rosenwald stipulated that each community had to match his donations in order to build a school.

The program was responsible for the construction of 5,300 schools in rural black communities during its 20 year existence. These schools spanned 15 southern states, with 389 sites in Alabama alone. Wyatt School, according to the history the Mining Museum compiled, was built in Burnwell by a “wealthy white man,” as the first school to provide education to black children in that area.

The lumber supposedly came from the home of Jack Boyd, father of Terrell S. Boyd, namesake of the area’s recently-closed elementary school. The building has been used for several other purposes since it was a school, including a dance hall, according to Alabama Mining Museum President Richard Lovelady. The Mining Museum purchased the building and moved it across the street from their museum in 1990.

Although many of the Rosenwald school buildings still exist, this is the first one in Walker County to be registered with the Alabama Historical Commission and only the sixth in the state, according to Jennifer Bailey, with the Commission. This is part of a push from the Cahaba Trace Commission to identify the remaining structures and attempt to get them added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Bailey said that despite the fact that the school was not in its original location, its near-pristine condition encouraged the commission to add the Wyatt School to the state register. A listing on the state register is an honorary designation and does not provide any benefits or restrictions for property honors.

The Alabama Mining Museum, located at 120 East Street, just off Sharon Boulevard, is open from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Friday and by appointment during afternoons and Saturdays.

No admission is charged, but donations are welcomed.

The phone number is (205) 648-2442 to set up an appointment.

Read more: Daily Mountain Eagle - Former school named to state historic register

Other news

The 2014 Horse Creek Jubilee a success

The Old Dora Jail
by Rick Watson Here is a photo of the old jail house. This structure has been saved and someone is living in it today. I stopped by on my recent trip through town and shot this photo. I also have a old photo from back in the 50's. I had a funny story about this old building. Back when I was about six or seven years old, I used to sit in my daddy's lap and drive. I loved to drive...even today driving is a pleasure. My daddy was friends with the Policeman in Dora at that time. His name was Officer Robinson. It was Joel Robinson's daddy and I think his name was Joel too. Anyhow, daddy had told Officer Robinson that I would be driving later that afternoon down the old Sloss road.As I was driving,
I heard a siren and looked behind me and I was being "chased"
by the police. It was a big black 1956 Ford Fairlane with a red bubble
gum machine on top. We pulled over and he asked me for my license. My
eyes must have been as big as saucers. I told him I didn't have a drivers
license. He said I had to go to jail. I was scared stiff. Daddy followed
Officer Robinson to the old jail and it was then that I completely lost
it and daddy and Officer Robinson called off the prank. I had forgotten
that story for a while until I drove by the jail.
I think it would be really good if we all wrote a collective book called
"The Things I Remember." We could collect them all and publish
them with old photographs and sell the gift books at local businesses
to help raise money for the Old Dora Restoration Fund.
If you have stories and/or photographs you'd like to share, please send
them to me and we'll publish them while we're collecting for the book.
Just another one of those crazy ideas.Rick

Sponsors of the City of Dora Website

MISSION STATEMENT

TO IMPROVE THE PHYSICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF DORA BY INVOLVING THE PUBLIC IN THE GOVERNMENTAL PROCESS, BY PROVIDING ACCURATE INFORMATION AND SERVICES IN A PROFESSIONAL, TIMELY MANNER AND BY MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS THAT WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL OUR CITIZENS.